Checked there and searched online for any demo modes/ testing codes that would allow me to mute it. Evidently, a lot of folks online absolutely hate my microwave as well, because no one can mute it. That said, the community of microwave haters has provided me with instructions to rip out the speaker if I choose to silence the wailing banshee for good.
My microwave has an un-interuptable 6 shrill beeps, that then repeat if the door is not opened in 10 seconds. There is no mute option, and it can be heard everywhere in the house. I have seriously considered just ripping the speaker out of it. It is, without a doubt, the appliance I hate most in my house.
Some will probably exist as exhibition pieces in places like Williamsburg, but a lot of the practical skill and techniques are in danger of being lost due to lack of use. Among the skills that I would like to see preserved are things like flint knapping, blacksmithing (blade smithing is still doing fairly well), foraging, manual land navigation, and to an extent manual stone carving / banking masonry.
Much of the manual nature of these skills has been replaced by automation or handheld electronics, so they are practiced by a dwindling number of artisans.
Open a non-profit primitive skills school. There are several of these skills that are rapidly dying and will likely be gone within a generation.
The act of talking around a mouthful of hot food.
Frigidaire FFMV164LSA MFG in 2012